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Amritsar Sahib-Panjab-India, 5 June 2017. In major cities throughout the world, tens of thousands of Sikhs solemnly gathered in remembrance of the attack on the Sri Harmandr Sahib (the GoldenTemple), in Amritsar in 1984.

London, Toronto, Amritsar, San Francisco and many others saw a similar sea of orange and blue and thousands flocked to the streets during parades, seminars and events. Tens of thousands in each city lined up the streets as kirtan (singing), simran (meditation) and speeches echoed through the air.

In Canada the mayor of Brampton, Linda Jeffrey, joined in the remembrance day parade, joining thousands of Sikhs in recalling when the Indian state killed thousands of innocent Sikhs in the holy shrine in Amritsar.

In June 1984 the Indian government attacked Gurdwaras across Punjab simultaneously on the day that Sikhs flock to Gurdwaras to remember the martyrdom of the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

The extra influx of gathering congregation resulted in the tragic slaughter of tens of thousands, which in-turn, triggered a decade of an armed uprising against the state by the Sikhs.